Elizabeth shouted with clamorous screaming that was extremely boisterous with great emotion as she explained, upon hearing the sound of Mary’s voice, how her baby John in utero – leaped skipped, bounded with exuberant, wild, ecstatic, delightful joy! (Lk 1:39-45)

Mary, while pregnant with Jesus, extolled that her spirit was experiencing a gladness that was jumping in celebration! (Lk 1:47)

The angel, standing before the shepherds, reassuringly and excitedly declared – Don’t be afraid, I bring good news of great and large joy! It is a joy because of grace recognized. And this joyful news is for ALL the people!” (Lk 2:9,10)

Then suddenly the sky filled with a multitude of heavenly host, who brought the message to conclusion – “peace to the earth and goodwill, happiness, favor, and delight in men”. (Lk 2:13,14)

The Shepherds urgently went searching for the babe. Can you imagine their wide-eyed excitement and anticipatory joy at what they would find? Afterwards encountering, they spread abroad this joyful good news. Those who heard marveled and were astonished. Perhaps because it came from shepherds! (Lk 2:16-18)

The Wise Men, after their arduous long-seeking journey, when they saw the star standing still to indicate where Jesus was, rejoiced with excessive, violent, extreme, great, loud, even fierce joy and delight. (Mt 2:9-10)

The earth was given a declaration of peace – i.e. a sense of welfare, to tie together into a whole, God’s gift of wholeness. Imagine the joy with that kind of ‘togetherness’! (Lk 2:14)

Joy Is The Focus Not Sin

When Jesus became flesh it was a happy, exuberant celebration. Joy for the world was the Godhead’s focus in coming to earth. Sadly, sin is religion’s focus for His coming.

Please realize Jesus did not have to come, He wanted to come to restore truth. Jesus came to show us who the Father really is and who we really are. (Jn 14:9 2Tim 1:9)

God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but that the world be saved, preserved, rescued on account of His Son. (Jn 3:17)

God’s joy over us propelled Him to come and remove the emptiness of sin that was keeping us from real relationship with Him.

Sin literally means ‘without form, having no substance’. Truly when we sin there is no fullness in it. It leaves us formless and empty in the long run.

God hates that emptiness. He originally made us to enjoy His fullness. Jesus came to restore that fullness. That is why God was so happy when, after 400 years, the fullness of time had come to reveal His eternal joy over us and restore access to the fullness.

Dig In

At times it can seem God is nowhere to be found, all is silent, life seems hopeless. But joy is coming. He might surprise you in a humble hidden way. Be open to believe (be persuaded) and receive, just like Mary. (Lk 1:38)

If you live in fear and guilt in your relationship with God, then know that is a religious relationship. Repent = change your religious mindset! Joy is a huge part of God’s kind of relationship. Ask for the real deal. He longs for you to have it.

The Incarnation is huge – it means God enjoys our human ‘be-ing’. And God is not partial in His enjoyment. Consider – He made known to illiterate poor shepherds (the lowliest of people in that culture and time) something profound. In the darkness and quiet of the night He let them encounter the supernatural and hear heaven-resounding news that affected the whole wide world. The shepherds didn’t grasp it all. But, they were one little hidden way He expressed His value of all mankind.

In the previous post I exposed the misunderstanding of what ‘cheerful’ giver means. It has nothing to do with being happy! ‘Cheerful’ in the Biblical Greek is about being persuaded, disposed toward someone for their benefit…..

This post will explore who loves who and why in the context of giving.

Who loves who?

Bible translations for 2Cor 9:7 say – “…God loves a cheerful giver.”

Many may take this to mean, even though God loves the world, He especially loves those who cheerfully give. But this would mean God is partial and that He loves under certain condition.

Seems another reason why many believers are uncertain about their relationship with God.

Meaning of ‘love’ in 2Cor 9:7

The Greek word for love in this passage is agapaó.

Christians know it as ‘agape’ love.

Years ago I was taught ‘agape’ means

unconditional love

a love not based on will, it just is

a love not based on emotion

a constant love

only God’s love is agape

I was taught it, I believed it. No questions asked. Never did think to look up this agapaó love. I blindly accepted the traditional religious explanation.

Hmm, have you ever considered how many things, rituals, traditions, dogma you have been taught by the religious institution and blindly accepted them as gospel truth?

Be assured I am no Greek Scholar, but upon looking up this verse in the Bible Hub Concordance for Greek, I was shocked to see the grammatical order actually says –

“…a cheerful giver loves God”!

This actually makes more sense.

Consider. We love because God first loved us. God so loved the world He gave. Freely you have received, freely give.

When we grow in grasping His agape love for us, then we really will love ourselves, and in turn naturally love our ‘neighbors’.

Remember, the meaning of ‘cheerful’ (giver) – favorably disposed toward others, are disposed because satisfied, and cheerfully ready to act because already approving.

So a ‘cheerful’ giver has first experienced God cheerfully giving to them! They have encountered His approving disposition towards them. In addition they have encountered His agape love – His preference for them, His esteem of them, His pleasure in them, His longing for them, His wishing well for them.

Giving does not involve

I will give to show God I love Him

I will be happy when I give because the Bible tells me to

I will be a cheerful giver because the church told me I should be

I will give so God will love me

Giving Involves

I love God because He first loved me

God has cheerfully loved me and given to me and I have received fully

I love God, I am a reflection of Him, and that naturally makes me a giver and a lover

God loves me whether I give or not, but I want to give. It is part of my spiritual DNA!

Dig In

Please say the meaning of agape love over yourself – God wishes well to me, He takes pleasure in me, He longs for me, His love for me flows from reason (it is not a fickle whim), He prefers me, and He esteems me.

If you have trouble loving your ‘neighbor’, then maybe you still need to love yourself. But that is hard to do – until you see how wonderful you really are. When you get that it changes the way you see everyone else, besides yourself!

No wonder Paul prayed – “…that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

made Himself lower than the woman caught in adultery, thereby making her above Him (remember He came to lift us up to our original exalted position in Him – Eph ??? 2:4-6

He was identifying with the woman who was being shamed, put down, and accused

by bowing His head in essence He was cowering, like one would do if fearful and ready to be harmed. He was identifying with this woman.

He even put Himself lower than the accusers and essentially implying stone Me! I will take the blows for all your accusations towards her.

Jesus wrote on the ground – Jn 8:6,8

Greek ‘on’ – properly, into – literally ‘motion into which implying penetration’, union, to a particular purpose or result

by writing in the dirt He was prophetically showing His oneness with humanity. The Creator of mankind became flesh and penetrated the dirt from whence we came. A prophetic union had taken place!

Getting His hand ‘dirty’ showed He had no aversion to mankind.

Greek for ‘ground’ means earth, soil, land, inhabitants of a region. It is also the same word used to describe Adam/mankind, i.e. “of the earth” (1Cor 15:47)

Jesus raised Himself up – Jn 8:7,10

‘raised’ – Greek raised Myself, look up, am elated

a picture of His resurrection after He had stooped to identify with mankind

in raising Himself up Jesus got face to face, eye to eye – not only with the accusers the first time, but then with the woman caught in adultery. In those connections He was demonstrating to them their worth, their true identity, and the relational essence of their being with God.

a picture of the Godhead’s elation over the restoration and reconciliation that They knew was coming. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. (Heb 12:2)

Note: when Jesus called her ‘Woman’, He was using a word that also means wife or my lady. He was referring to her with respect. There is even an implication of the Bride of Christ with this word.

Religion’s ‘Go and sin no more’meaning

Sober up.

Don’t you dare blow it again.

I have high expectations of you, in fact I demand perfection.

You need to try harder.

Don’t disappoint Me.

For all I’ve done for you, now you owe Me.

I don’t condemn you this time, but if there is a next time don’t expect such leniency.

It’s moral behavior I want, so be good.

Remember – Jesus prefaced “Go and sin no more” with “Neither do I condemn you.”

Neither in the Greek is a big word. It means – neither indeed, not even, moreover not. It introduces a statement whose negation totally invalidates and rules out the statement that precedes it.

In other words, Jesus is saying ‘no condemnation allowed from anyone’ – even though the law says there should be condemning consequences, even death!

Jesus’ ‘Go and sin no more’ meaning

Therefore My lady –

go (Greek – move from one destination to another, depart from here and reach a particular destination)

and (indeed, even, moreover, also)

from (away from)

now (just at hand, immediately, now in light of what has gone before)

no more (no longer)

sin (without a part, a share; properly having no share in, without substance or form)

My loose translation based on insight into the Greek words:

‘My lady, your destination is not to be stoned, you have a better destination. Go away from what is at hand. Go away from what just transpired with all its accusations and legal requirements. You have a particular destination to reach so move to it. Leave the past behind. No longer be without your part and share of what I have for you. Stop believing lies about yourself. Repent, change your way of thinking. No longer stoop to a lesser identity. I did not make you to be formless but to have substance – to have significance, value, respect. Be who you really are! You belong and we are one! I rose up to show you how elated I am over you. So go your way, free to be all I made you to be. I made you for fullness of being – being My fullness in your own unique way!’

Can you just imagine the transformation that happened to that woman? She encountered the God of the universe, the God whose name the religious people would not even pronounce, the God who looked just like her – looking her in the face, eyes to eyes – saying in essence I love you, I value you, never will I condemn you, go and be who you really are.

Hmm, did she walk away with her head held high, a smile on her face, a skip in her step, and her eyes bright with who she really was? I’m thinkin’ so. She just faced truth and heard truth that set her free – free indeed! Gosh, imagine what all those accusers and onlookers thought of that?!

Dig In

No matter what wrongs you do or mistakes you make, God will never ever condemn you. He specifically came to show you how valuable you are to Him, that you have always been precious, and never deserving of condemnation and judgment. By the way – sin was judged, not mankind. (Jn 3:17 Jer 31:3 Heb 9:26 Heb 10:10)

You are never stuck in sin. Begin to realize He lifted you out of that formless place. Go and grow in revelation of the beauty of your being that began before time began – and BE IT! (1Tim 1:9,10)

Jesus ‘stooped’ below us in order to ‘raise’ us up to His level. Oh the glory of His inheritance in us! (Rom 4:25 Eph 2:6 Eph 1:18)

In scripture, when something is repeated two or three times, that means we need to pay attention. It is important. Take heed. Ponder.

Jesus repeated three actions TWO times concerning the woman caught in adultery as she had to stand before her accusers.

stooped down

wrote on the ground

raised Himself up

Looks like we need to pay attention!

There is HUGE meaning and significance to His, what I call, prophetic actions. Out of all my pondering, these past few weeks over His actions in this story with the adulterous woman, I was amazed to discover truths about our true identity and the Good News.

You know, if we begin to realize how much He is for us, how He came to show us who we really are, that He has never changed His mind about us, and get free from the ‘traditions of the elders’ (AKA religious tradition) – then we will begin to see this wondrous pattern of unconditional eternal love.

Click here for the video to see and hear for yourself what Jesus was saying by His actions. You will be wowed!

Dig In

Jesus knows the times when we were brought low. Please realize, He will get even lower than us, because He came to lift us up. We were always made to be lifted up and highly valued.

Jesus has nothing but terms of endearment about us, even in the midst of our blowing it. Open your heart to the truth of who you really are.

Don’t let accusers define you. Only God’s evaluation of you counts. Come into the revelation of His elation over you! Certainty of this is part of fullness.

P.S. The next post will explain what Jesus truly meant when He told the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”

It is up to you to determine your eternal place after this earthly life.

My, what a big responsibility and requirement we put on ourselves and everyone! What bondage the traditional religious mindset has put on ‘believers’ and ‘unbelievers’!

Horror or delight

With this kind of conditional ‘it’s up to you’ religious ‘Good News’ comes our clear determination of who won’t or will make it to heaven. Our determination will be much to our horror or much to our delight.

Here’s how it works

horror if your beloved relative or dear friend has not done the religious steps to secure a place in heaven

delight if your beloved ones did go through the steps to attain heavenly security

delight because certain one, for example – ‘vicious head chopping terrorist’, have to go to hell (because we know there’s no way they will do the salvation steps and obviously are not worthy to go to heaven anyway)

horror to imagine that someone like those ‘vicious head chopping terrorist’ could possibly even get into heaven – just the possibility of it is nauseating

Sin Controls God is impotent

Do you realize this kind of religious thinking gives power to sin and implies that God is impotent?!

It says in effect

the torture Jesus experienced was not sufficient

Jesus’ death was not enough

God’s love is conditional

you have to live in uncertainty in your relationship with God

your sin dictates God’s actions

your sin determines God’s feelings toward you

evil ultimately controls and influences God

your actions determine whether you are on God’s good side or God’s bad side

God is fickle, schizophrenic, unpredictable, partial, demanding

Many Christians are fixated on this delusional perceived power of sin and the requirements to clean up their act.

Crap or Truth

If you identify with any of the above ‘crap’ (excuse my language, but remember even Paul used ‘dung’ to describe all his self-righteous efforts – Php 3:8), then please know God does not want you stuck in this. He has a big shovel to get rid of it for you.

This scoop shovel is powered by Truth. Truth sets you free. Jesus came to set you free, free indeed. (Jn 8:22) Hey, do we even know what that means?!

Dig In

Know up front, your sin does not in any way, affect how God feels about you. He thinks you are wonderful and have always been wonderful.

Religious Christianity focuses on sin. That is not God’s focus, so why should it be yours? (Heb 10:17)

Do you really understand judgment when it comes to God? Do you realize that we put our notionof judgment onto God? You will be amazed at the judgment already wrought by Jesus. God’s justice and judgment are nothing like our worldly way of justice and judgment. His wonderful judgment on you is part of your fullness and your certainty!

Why did the five wise virgins tell the five foolish virgins to go buy oil?

Those wise ones were loaded with oil. They should have shared, right?

Actually, they did one better. Far from being selfish, the five wise virgins were passing on wisdom and understanding they had ‘bought’.

Was it really oil the five wise ones bought? Or is Jesus trying to tell us something deeper about His kingdom in this parable? You bet. Figure deep and good.

Rejoice, this parable is not about judgment, who’s in, who’s out, you’d better be ready or else.

Check out the video for the REAL meaning of ‘get your own oil’ and ‘I don’t know you’. Be surprised and delighted.

Dig In

If your filter or mindset is connected to Old Testament judgments and requirements, then you will not see the Good News found in the Ten Virgins parable, or any of the Parables. Get free from that mixture of legalism and grace. Otherwise, you are limited to a little lamp and no jug.

Make the exchange – buy without cost. He has abundance for all. His provision of excess makes you ready for every challenge and seeming delay.

The Kingdom of God has to do with ‘knowing’. Knowing your true identity. The five wise virgins is a picture of those who ‘knew’ and knew how to direct the five foolish ones to know too. Do you know? Do you really ‘see’? He sure wants you to.

P.S. Jesus wants you to know what He knows about the real you, and that He knows that you know, and that you know that He knows. ‘Buy’ without cost. Enter into certainty and fullness.

Have you ever considered how the traditional religious punitive retributive mindset about God will keep you from understanding the kingdom of God?

The parable of the Ten Virgins is one of many parables that Jesus used to mystify us rather than inform. The Kingdom is so full of goodness for all that most were blind to that fact. Hence their conclusions (and ours) on this parable meaning would focus on judgment, punishment, and hell.

Ah, but there is good news in the parable of the Ten Virgins!

Check out the video and be surprised at what these virgins show us about the fullness of the Kingdom of God:

Dig In

Do you have your walk figured out, kind of like the five ‘foolish’ virgins? You have enough. Or do you think God only has a little bit for you? Or are you open to getting so full of Truth that you would be like one of the five ‘wise’ virgins lugging around a jug of oil?

Do you think God has delayed, is delaying, or will delay in things you are waiting for? God doesn’t delay. “Behold the Bridegroom!” HE IS HERE NOW! Fill up your jug!

Has your religious teaching put a hard edge on the parables and programmed you to see the negative? Do know you really can grasp the fullness of grace that is hidden within them. Repent! 🙂 In other words change your mindset and enter into the inclusiveness, joy, and fullness of the kingdom, of which the parables point.

If any aspect of your walk with God involves a formula, steps, a system then beware. These man made ideas have no LIFE in them. Only Jesus is the life!

It was revelation that awakened Paul to who he really was, even in his mother’s womb. His violent action affected NOT the security of being in Jesus and Jesus in Him.

True salvation is not dependent on feeling bad about your sins and asking forgiveness. You were forgiven at the cross – all mankind was forgiven at the cross. Now to wake up to that powerful truth! Sin is in NO WAY more powerful than His eternal love expressed in Jesus’ death and resurrection. There’s certainty and fullness in Christ’s final words – “It is finished.”

The movie, “Heaven Is For Real!”, is heartwarming and stirring. It stirs one about the substance of faith, shallow beliefs, confusion about who God really is, and confirmation of that other truer ‘Reality’.

Just remembered my other confirmation! I forgot to mention on the video about my grandmother, at age 91, dying at the nursing home while eating her lunch in the cafeteria. She was by herself at the time. When the nurse noticed her slumped head, she went to check on her and felt no pulse. They quickly wheeled Grandma to her room. The nurse began to check her heart and vitals to confirm she was dead.

All of a sudden Grandma swung her arm and knocked the stethoscope from the nurse. Scared the living daylights out of the nurse! Grandma’s first words were, “I saw Ernest! I saw heaven! It was beautiful!” Here is my grandma, suffering from dementia, but she was clear as a bell about what she saw. She saw her deceased husband who had died about 16 years earlier, and she saw incredible beauty. You can’t tell me heaven is not for real! By the way my grandparents had been married for over 60 years. Cool, huh?

Now why would God do that with my grandma, and to realize she wouldn’t die for another five years? I don’t know. But it sure blessed my dad some forty plus years ago. In fact Dad can still get choked up telling that story. Hey, by the way my dad is 92! Another cool.

God has so much for us here and now, and in the future. He doesn’t want us living in doubt, unbelief, anger, resentment, confusion, or fear.

Speaking of fear, little Colton said, “There is nothing to be afraid of.” One of his big take aways from his encounter with Jesus and Heaven. Big truth in that statement.

Check out thevideo for my thoughts and confirmations that this true story- based movie declares.

Dig In

God really cares and God is really involved in our lives. His involvement is part of our fullness.

Let the children come to Me, for such is the kingdom of heaven. Don’t be afraid to be a child (again). Mt 19:14

Receive His perfect love, you will experience freedom from fear and freedom to love freely! 1Jn 4:18,19

Has religion taught you that some branches, if they do not abide in the Vine, will be thrown out and burned up? Have you been taught or did your conclude that means they go to hell?

Jesus during His discourse on the Vine, the Vinedresser, and the branches, explained in John 15:6, that anyone who does not abide in Him, is cast out, withers, gathered up, thrown into the fire, and are burned.

Sure sounds serious in terms of someone’s certainty and comfort in a relationship with God, and possibly eternal security. At least that is what religious Christianity would probably say.

What I discovered in this verse would certainly contradict the traditional religious ‘you’d better watch out because He could throw you out’ understanding.

Dig In
• Are you steeped in religious teaching that presents a God who has to pour out His wrath on someone? This kind of teaching comes from a centuries old punitive justice mindset. Not so in God’s thinking – His is restorative justice and includes mercy for all. (Rom 11:32)
• Many may say “God is good, and all the time God is good.”, but then contradict themselves with beliefs that some are just going to be burned up (tortured) in hell. How can one ever draw close to a God that may ‘get you’ if you don’t do certain things? No certainty in that.
• The bigger picture of Jesus’ illustration about the Vine and the Vinedresser is about a position of intimacy and union. But just one little verse, that SEEMS to be negative, will cause most to fixate on it and assume the worse. How easily and quickly we can forget that God is for us! Sadly, it is also easy to believe He is not for certain people that we (or legalistic religiosity) deem unacceptable. But if we knew the truth, that sets us free, we would not fall for this twisted judging.

Why Fullness?

Have you ever been so full you thought you could bust? I did, once at Thanksgiving (learned my lesson).
But, I'm talking about a different fullness that is meant to get fuller. Is that possible?! You betcha. In fact sometimes I feel like I could bust with what's 'inside' and I'm still getting fuller. Intrigued, hungry, confused, hopeless, hurting, clueless, wandering, searching, longing for more? Have I got good news and hope for you! You were made for fullness upon fullness. Dig in!